A local garda has made the first public comment by a member of the force on the shooting dead by gardai of Mr John Carthy outside his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, last month.
It is understood that gardai have faced a degree of hostility from people living in the area following the shooting.
In a letter to the Longford Leader, Garda Chris Lee criticised media coverage of the killing and said that demands for an independent public inquiry would be "understandable" if the Carthy family and the community found that they were not satisfied with the report of the internal Garda investigation.
Garda Lee, who is a member of the national executive of the Garda Representative Association, was not on duty the day of the shooting, but said yesterday that he had written the letter to try to instil some "balance" into the debate about the action gardai took in Abbeylara.
He claimed that some media reports had contained "glaring inaccuracies" about the number of gardai at the scene and he urged that no assumptions be made before publication of the official inquiry report. He was "very hopeful" that the report would deal adequately with the events.
Considerable hostility has been directed at local gardai and their families in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of the 27-year-old man on April 20th. One Abbeylara resident said that some of the encounters had been face to face and "quite nasty".
Garda Lee said that everyone in the area was trying to come to terms with the incident, but inaccurate reporting had served to heighten emotions. "While fully accepting that the real victims in this terrible tragedy are John Carthy, his family and indeed the close-knit community that is Abbeylara . . . I believe it is important to stress that the garda i who were on duty during this saddest of occasions are also victims."
His letter said: "Those involved will have to live with the implications and consequences of what happened in Abbeylara for a very long time. The memories of John Carthy's death will live with them for the rest of their lives.
"I earnestly hope that the answers to all of the legitimate questions being posed by the community will be answered to the satisfaction of all. If this is not the case, and the report does not adequately meet the needs of those who seek its publication, then the call for a public inquiry would be understandable."
The official Garda inquiry, headed by Chief Supt Adrian Culligan, of Cork, is at an advanced stage, although its report has yet to be completed.